


Say What You Need to Say

by LadyWisteria



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Insecurity, Self-Esteem Issues, Swearing, as baby first years, seijoh third years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 12:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyWisteria/pseuds/LadyWisteria
Summary: The beginning of Matsukawa and Oikawa's relationship is a little rough, but they'll sort it out. ...Eventually.





	Say What You Need to Say

"Issei! Hurry it up or you're going to be late for school!"

Matsukawa ignored the repeated calls from downstairs, his attention focused solely on his reflection in the mirror. With practiced moves, he carefully dragged the razor across the space of skin between his eyebrows. Over and over, until not even the tiniest hair remained. Once he was satisfied he moved on to his actual eyebrows, narrowing the tops and ends of them as carefully as he could. It wouldn't do to accidentally take so much off that he had to shave them off altogether, like he'd done once when he was in middle school.

He rinsed the razor and put it away, then ran a hand through his hair, turning his head this way and that and eyeing his reflection critically. He clicked his tongue in irritation. _'It's getting too thick again.'_

"Is-sei!"

He grimaced. "Coming!" He flicked the bathroom light off behind him and stuffed the assortment of books and notebooks spread out on his desk into his school bag.

"You're going to be late." his mother fretted as he jogged into the kitchen. "Here, I packed you something to eat on the way."

He grabbed it and turned away quickly. "Thanks."

"Ohhh, Issei." He twitched at her mournful tone, reluctantly turning back around. He ran a hand through his bangs again, as if he could cover up his handiwork.

"What's up?"

"Why did you mess with your eyebrows again?"

_'Ugh, she noticed after all.'_

"They were getting too thick again." he mumbled. "So's my hair, for that matter. I was thinking about maybe getting it cut later this week."

"Honey, you just got it cut a week ago. And there was nothing wrong with your eyebrows. I think they looked fine."

It took all of his self-control not to scoff at her. She seemed to sense his skepticism, though, because she pressed her hand to his cheek and said, "Issei, look at me."

He sighed but obeyed. He had to look a fair ways down to meet her eyes.

"You look fine, baby." she said softly. "I think you look perfectly handsome, thick eyebrows or not."

He forced a small smile. "You're my mother. You're contractually obligated to tell me that."

She laughed, but her eyes were still worried. She patted his cheek, hand lingering for a moment as she said, "Have a great day at school, okay?"

"Kay."

The train ride to school was uneventful. He turned the volume on his music up so loud it could probably be heard outside of his headphones, but the deafening noise helped distract him from thinking about the earlier conversation. As he turned the corner to the school, though, he had no choice to turn the music off and all of his negative thoughts came creeping back.

 _'It's the same thing as always.'_ he thought morosely, yanking his earbuds loose and stuffing them into his jacket pocket. _'She just doesn't get it.'_

He hesitated at the school gate, opening the camera app on his phone and checking his hair one last time. _'Definitely getting too thick. And it's sticking up all weird again.'_ He sighed wearily and shoved his phone into his bag. His sleeve pushed up a bit as he did so and he frowned, running a hand over his arm and then his knuckles. _'Never mind a haircut, maybe I should just get a full-body wax instead. That would solve a lot of my problems right there. Maybe Mom and I can look at scheduling that after practice…'_ He was so lost in thought he didn't hear his name being called until the speaker started yelling.

"Hey, Matsukawa!"

He jumped. "Oh. Hey, Hanamaki. What's up?"

The other boy jogged up to him, breathing heavily. "Nothing much."

"You still running all the way to school in the mornings?"

Hanamaki grinned and flashed him a peace sign. "Yep! Helps wake me up. It's not like I live that far away anyways."

He shook his head. "You're weird. I can't even think about putting that much physical effort into something until at least eleven a.m."

Hanamaki laughed and poked him playfully in the ribs. "Don't I know it. You're such a lazy bum sometimes, Matsukawa."

He smiled back, but for some reason the comment stung. He was immediately angry at himself. _'Oh, would you relax. He's just messing with you. You're too worked up about what happened this morning.'_ He took a few deep breaths to try and relax himself. There was no need to get bent out of shape over something so minor, Hanamaki just liked to give people a hard time. They both did. It was partly why they got along so well. _'Get ahold of yourself.'_ he told himself firmly, and followed the other boy inside.

"Morning, Oikawa, Iwaizumi." Hanamaki called as they approached two other first years that they had met recently in volleyball club, both in the process of slipping on their school shoes.

"Sup." Iwaizumi waved lazily, while Oikawa sing-songed, "Morniiing, Makki~"

When Matsukawa didn't say anything, Oikawa bounced over to him and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Morning, Mattsun~"

"Morning." he said shortly, shrugging the other boy off and opening his locker. Oikawa was an okay guy most of the time, and he was a highly skilled volleyball player for someone his age, but his dumb-and-happy routine could get a little annoying after a while. And Matsukawa still wasn't sure what he thought of the cutesy nicknames Oikawa had come up with for the two of them. _'At least it's better than Iwaizumi's nickname. Poor guy.'_

It had become their habit to hang out in the hallway and chat for the scant minutes their few passing periods granted them, since none of them were in the same class; but it was less fun today than it was most. It was probably due to his already irritable mood making everything seem worse, but Oikawa seemed even more annoying and peppy than usual. By their third and final passing period, his voice was so grating on Matsukawa's ears that he was sorely tempted to pull an Iwaizumi and smack him if he didn't stop talking for ten seconds.

But that wasn't his style, so when they met up for lunch break he settled for drifting at the back of the group with Iwaizumi while Oikawa and Hanamaki walked ahead, chatting energetically about this and that. He was just starting to zone out and finally relax when Oikawa said loudly, "Hey, Mattsun, you have to get in here, too." and pulled him forward to stand between himself and Hanamaki.

Oikawa held up his phone and beamed. "Say cheese!" Matsukawa froze, eyes wide. Hanamaki, on the other hand, flashed the camera a huge grin and another peace sign.

"Cheese!"

"Aww, Mattsun, you weren't smiling." Oikawa pouted. "Now we gotta redo it." He moved to put his arm back around Matsukawa's shoulders, as did Hanamaki, but Matsukawa shoved them off.

"Pass." he growled, and stalked ahead of them.

 _'The last thing I wanna do right now is take a stupid selfie, especially with him.'_ His eyes stung and he blinked rapidly. _'Stupid, perfect pretty boy.'_

"What was that about?" Iwaizumi wondered from behind them.

"I dunno." Hanamaki said, squinting worriedly after the other boy.

"Well, at least _we_ look cute." Oikawa said, raising his phone slightly as if he was checking the picture out again. But his eyes flicked over the top of the phone to watch Matsukawa closely as the other boy disappeared through the doors ahead of them.

"Totes." Hanamaki grinned.

"You two are nauseating." Iwaizumi grumbled, pushing ahead of them to the cafeteria.

"Maybe, but you know you love me anyways." Oikawa chirped. Iwaizumi merely grunted in reply and Hanamaki smirked.

_'He didn't deny it though.'_

As the three got in line behind Matsukawa for their food, hushed whispers began to follow them. Matsukawa suddenly became incredibly interested in the lunch choices, and Oikawa's eyes narrowed at him. Iwaizumi noticed the change in his expression and looked from him to Matsukawa and back again in curiosity, but didn't say anything.

"Look, there's Oikawa-kun!"

"He's soo cute!"

"I dunno," a more hesitant voice whispered, but still loud enough that the boys could hear, "I think the buff guy next to him is hotter."

"Yeah, but Oikawa-kun has a prettier face."

Oikawa puffed his chest out, looking quite pleased with himself, and Iwaizumi scowled and took a swing at the back of his head. Oikawa easily jumped out of the way. He wagged a finger at him scoldingly. "Now, now, Iwa-chan, jealousy isn't very becoming."

Iwaizumi accepted his tray with a glare that made the lunch lady handing it to him back away in fright. "Shut up, Trashykawa."

Oikawa stuck his tongue out at him and Iwaizumi chased him all the way to their table, hitting him in the shoulder with his backpack hard enough to make him yelp before dropping into his seat and shoveling food into his mouth. Oikawa rubbed his arm and sat beside him, expression meek, while Hanamaki slid into the seat next to Matsukawa.

"It's the same gossip every day." Hanamaki said, shaking his head at them in amusement. "You should be used to this by now, Iwaizumi."

The other boy scoffed around a mouthful of food.

"But hey, at least one of the girls thinks you're hot." he added, and Iwaizumi's grumpy face brightened faintly.

Oikawa smirked and gestured across the table. "Don't kid yourself, Iwa-chan. If it's a buff, hot guy they're talking about, they obviously mean Mattsun."

"WOULD YOU CUT IT OUT?!"

The whole cafeteria fell silent as Matsukawa abruptly stood up and slammed a fist on the table. Hanamaki had been in the middle of reaching for his drink but when Matsukawa's hand landed right beside it he jerked back and then froze, normally sleepy eyes wide.

Iwaizumi stared at him as if he'd just grown a second head. "Dude, Matsukawa, what the heck-"

"Seriously, do you ever shut up? This is why I can't stand guys like you!" Matsukawa shouted. Oikawa flinched and Iwaizumi's eyes narrowed.

"Hey, watch it-" he started again, tone harsher, but Matsukawa ignored him.

"I get it, okay? I'm just a big, fat joke to you. You've made your point. Now could you just shut the hell up and leave me alone?!"

He and Oikawa stared wordlessly at each other for a long minute, Matsukawa breathing heavily, and then he turned on his heel and stomped towards the cafeteria doors. Hanamaki scrambled to his feet behind him and called, "Hey, Matsukawa, wait a minute.", but he pretended not to hear him.

A teacher materialized at their table from seemingly nowhere, lips pursed. "What seems to be the problem over here, boys?"

"Nothing, sir." Iwaizumi said tightly, eyes not straying from the still-swinging doors. "Just a small misunderstanding. We'll get it sorted out."

The teacher didn't seem too pleased with his curt response but left without saying anything else.

Matsukawa spent the rest of the lunch period hiding out in one of the boys' bathrooms. A lame and cliché move, maybe, but at least there no one would bother him. It was easy to avoid Oikawa for the rest of the school day as well, as neither of them had any other reasons to leave their classrooms until the day was over.

He helped almost robotically with the afterschool clean-up of his classroom before making a beeline for the lockers. Hanamaki joined him after a few moments and tried hesitantly to start a conversation. When he didn't get a response after the third attempt, however, he finally gave up with a shaky sigh.

Despite his best efforts to forget it, all Matsukawa had been able to think about all day was the scene from the lunch room; the way Hanamaki flinched when he slammed his hand on the table, and the way he sat frozen afterwards, staring up at him with those huge eyes. He felt like utter crap for frightening the other boy like that; Hanamaki had offhandedly referred to him as his best friend a couple of times already despite them only knowing each other for a few months, and Matsukawa secretly felt the same. He knew if nothing else he should at least apologize to Hanamaki, but the thought of saying sorry to anyone right then just made him even angrier. He was afraid of what he might say if he opened his mouth, so he ignored him instead. If he didn't say anything at all then there was no way he could hurt the other boy's feelings any more than he already had.

As he ducked out the front door Iwaizumi approached him as well; Matsukawa pretended not to see or hear him and to his surprise and relief, Iwaizumi simply walked away instead of pressing the issue like he normally would. He'd gotten away with yelling at Oikawa in the cafeteria because of his dramatic exit afterwards, but he didn't fancy the results if he tried voicing his complaints like that with Iwaizumi around a second time.

_'The way I'm feeling right now, it'd probably end in a fistfight. And we both know who'd win that one.'_

Although he was ashamed of even considering it, he couldn't help but toy with the idea of skipping practice altogether. He had a pounding headache and his nerves felt so frayed that he was pretty sure he would snap the moment Coach Mizoguchi started yelling. It wouldn't do to lose it at a coach like he had Oikawa, though; so best just to remove himself from the situation completely, go home, and mope for a few hours.

_'Maybe I can even talk Mom into letting me get that haircut and wax today.'_

He was about to change direction and head for the school gate when he saw a flash of brown and white out of the corner of his eye.

_'Oh, not him.'_

He put his head down and walked faster, but Oikawa refused to be outrun and sped up as well. "Hey, Mattsun." he began, before hesitating and calling instead, "Hey, Matsukawa. Wait up."

Ignoring him didn't work like it had with Hanamaki and Iwaizumi; Oikawa simply ran to catch up with him and started matching his determined pace step for step.

"What do you want." he asked through gritted teeth.

"I _want_ to talk." Oikawa grabbed his shoulder and forcefully turned Matsukawa towards him. "So could you just stop for a second?"

Matsukawa smacked his hand away and glared down his nose at the other boy. "There's nothing to talk about."

"There obviously is!" Oikawa spread his hands, looking more upset than Matsukawa could remember having ever seen him. "I mean, you had a total freak out in the cafeteria, and you were cranky all morning even before that…"

Matsukawa felt his hands start to shake and he squeezed them into fists, feeling his nails bite into his palms.

"I just," Oikawa looked pained. "I don't understand why you're this upset."

He ground his teeth together. "Maybe because you never. Freaking. Shut up! Everything is a joke to you! Even me! You know how I feel about my looks!"

_'You know, because in a moment of stupidity at a team sleepover, I told you. And I never should have.'_

"I told you all of that, I _trusted_ you with all of that, and you've done nothing but throw it back in my face all day!"

One of Matsukawa's hobbies was reading, and a line he frequently happened across was that of someone who had just had something hurtful said to them being described as looking 'as if they'd just been slapped'. Now he understood exactly what that looked like. Oikawa couldn't have looked more in pain then if Matsukawa had literally raised his hand and struck him. He stared at the ground, lower lip trembling, and Matsukawa wondered briefly if the other boy might actually cry. He felt guilty for all of a second before crushing the feeling.

_'Let him. It's what he deserves for being such an ass. He knows I hate how I look and he chose to rub it in all freaking day.'_

Out loud he snarled, "This is why I hate guys like you. You learn what makes people tick, what hurts them, and then you treat it like a fricking joke." He could see Iwaizumi and Hanamaki comings towards them, so he shoved his hands in his pockets and pushed past Oikawa, knocking his shoulder against the other boy's roughly. "Forget it. I'm going home."

"You wouldn't have believed me if I had just told you the truth, so what choice did I have?!"

It was so unlike Oikawa to raise his voice to anything more than a loud speaking voice that when he yelled Matsukawa jumped about a foot in the air. He peeked over his shoulder warily. Oikawa was glaring at him, shoulders heaving.

"Huh?"

"I wasn't trying to make a joke out of it!" Oikawa shouted. He gestured helplessly. "Okay, yes I was, but not how you think! I just…" He slowly lowered his hands, looking away. "We've only known each other a couple of months. It's not like we're close or anything. So I knew that if I just flat out told you what I was really thinking, there was no way you'd believe me. You'd think I was just saying it to like, be nice or something. To cheer you up, even though I didn't really mean it." He glanced up, long bangs obscuring his eyes. "But I do mean it."

Matsukawa turned to face him, the anger slowly draining out of him. "Mean what?"

Oikawa's face reddened and he scuffed a sneakered toe in the dirt. "I realized you were having a bad day cause you were feeling down about your looks again. I just," he swallowed hard, "I was just trying to make you feel better. I don't think there's anything wrong with how you look. I know that sometimes you think that you're too hairy, or that your voice is too raspy, but so what? I think you're pretty cool, and anybody who thinks different can take a hike."

The intensity in his gaze made Matsukawa take a step back despite himself. It lasted only a moment, before Oikawa slumped a little and dropped his eyes to the ground again.

"But like I said, it's not like we're close or anything, so you had no reason to believe me if I just straight up said that stuff. So I thought maybe I should be casual about it. Ya know, try to encourage you stealthily, or something like that." He flushed even deeper and muttered, "Obviously that didn't work out like I planned."

Matsukawa stared at him in disbelief. The last of the tension and resentment he'd been holding onto all day drained out of his body and he sighed deeply. Then he burst out laughing. Oikawa looked startled and then offended.

"Now who's the jerk? I go and pour my heart out to you and you laugh at me?!"

His indignant screech only made Matsukawa laugh harder. "I'm sor- I'm sorry I just-" He was startled to find himself suddenly crying instead. He wiped a tear away, Oikawa's offended expression turning to concern. "Geez, I am such an asshole!"

Oikawa looked utterly confused by his constantly changing moods. "Wha- huh?"

He rubbed furiously at his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry, Oikawa. I've been feeling like crap the last couple days and I took it all out on you. I didn't realize you were just trying to help."

Oikawa looked sheepish. "Well, looking back on it now I can definitely see how some of my actions could be misinterpreted."

"Look, I," he lowered his voice, suddenly aware again of Hanamaki and Iwaizumi watching them from a distance, "I don't do subtle when it comes to that stuff, okay? I get too wrapped up inside my own head and I stop thinking straight. That's in no way an excuse for how I acted today, but it's the truth. So next time you wanna say stuff like that just…just say it, okay?"

Oikawa grinned at him. "Will do."

Matsukawa flushed as he remembered something else. "Speaking of saying things I, uh…I'm sorry I said I hated you. Well, guys like you. I mean, I do but…I don't hate _you_. Yeah, you are kind of annoying sometimes, but," He scratched at the back of his head awkwardly. "I actually think you're pretty cool too." He held out a hand. "Friends again?"

Oikawa stared down at his hand without answering. For a long, nerve-wracking moment Matsukawa thought he might actually reject him. He wouldn't blame him if he did, though; he'd been an absolute jerk all day for reasons that turned out to be all in his head. Oikawa had every right to tell _him_ to take a hike for the awful way he'd treated him.

And then Oikawa slapped him a ferocious high five and beamed at him. "Obviously!"

He sighed in relief and grinned back at him. With that Iwaizumi seemed to have decided that it was finally safe to approach them. He glanced between the two of them, eyes lingering on Oikawa. "Everything okay now?" he asked, more to the setter than Matsukawa.

Oikawa flashed double peace signs at him. "Peachy keen, Iwa-chan. But we better get a move on to practice, or Mizoguchi-kun is gonna make us all run extra laps." He adjusted the strap of his duffle bag, made crooked in all his flailing earlier, and took off for the gym. After a moment's hesitation Iwaizumi followed him, the soft look he gave Matsukawa before leaving saying that all was forgiven between them as well.

Matsukawa took a few moments to wipe his eyes again and take a few deep breaths. He'd drawn enough attention after his outburst in the cafeteria; the last thing he wanted now was to walk into practice and get asked why he looked he'd been crying. There was a rustling beside him and he looked over to see Hanamaki fidgeting awkwardly beside him. Unbidden he remembered by far the worst part of the cafeteria incident and cringed.

They both started to speak at once, stopped, and then Hanamaki gestured at him to go first.

"I'm really sorry about what happened in the cafeteria earlier." he said in a low voice. "I didn't mean to snap and start hitting stuff like that."

"Oh, that. Nah, it's cool." Hanamaki laughed awkwardly. "It just surprised me cause it kinda came outta nowhere. That kinda stuff isn't like you." His expression dimmed and he stared up at Matsukawa with anxious eyes. "You really had me worried there for a while."

"Sorry."

Hanamaki forced another laugh, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "Geez, man. Here I am just trying to enjoy a nice lunch, have some lemonade, and I almost get smacked for it. If you don't want me drinking lemonade so bad, just say so!"

He meant it as a joke and any other time Matsukawa might've found it funny, but he still remembered the way Hanamaki flinched and froze up when he slammed the table. Another wave of shame twisted his stomach.

"I would never hit you." he said firmly. "Ever."

Hanamaki started at the intensity of his voice, before putting a hand on his hip and raising a thin eyebrow at him. Matsukawa caught himself comparing it to his own, comparing Hanamaki's perfectly smooth porcelain skin to his own less-than-either-of-those-things skin, and immediately stomped on the thought.

_'That's the kind of nonsense that got you into this mess in the first place. Hanamaki is how he is, and you're how you are. Get over it already.'_

"Obviously not." Hanamaki said in response to his earlier statement, shrugging as it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But Mizoguchi-san might smack the both of us if we're any later for practice."

"Crap."

Hanamaki grinned impishly at him. "Race you there."

"You're on."

It ended in a tie, Hanamaki tripping over Matsukawa's feet as they tried to beat each other in the door and practically falling on his face. Like the good friends they were, both Iwaizumi and Oikawa promptly laughed at him. Hanamaki ducked his head in embarrassment, as most of the gym was staring at him. Matsukawa held out a hand, pulling him easily to his feet when he accepted it.

"Thanks."

Hanamaki went to step away, but turned back when he didn't immediately let go of his hand.

"Um, Matsukawa…?"

He didn't answer for a moment. It had occurred to him that Hanamaki had technically never accepted his apology for what happened in the cafeteria, and that bothered him for some reason. "Best friends" was no reason for Hanamaki to feel like he _had_ to overlook Matsukawa's earlier behavior. He met his eyes nervously, the other boy quirking an eyebrow at him again curiously.

"About earlier…" He glanced away and then back, asking hesitantly, "We cool?"

Hanamaki looked confused, and then the corners of his mouth quirked upwards into that crooked, toothy grin that Matsukawa liked so much.

"Yeah, we're cool."

They stood that way for a few moments, until their captain finally got tired of waiting for them and clapped his hands loudly. "You two coming, or do we need to start practice without you?"

They both yanked their hands away, flushing.

"Coming!"

Midway through practice they split into two teams for a practice match. Matsukawa couldn't help but worry that the day's earlier incident might affect how he and Oikawa played together despite them making up, but quickly realized he needn't have bothered. Oikawa acted as if their argument had never happened, setting the ball in the mid-height, close-to-the-net toss that Matsukawa was figuring out was one of his best hitting spots with a tiny knowing smirk on his face. Matsukawa easily slammed it past the second year blocker opposing him, pumping a fist gleefully as he landed.

Oikawa held up both hands. "Nice kill, Mattsun!" He froze. "Uh. I uh-"

Matsukawa smiled and slapped him a high ten, Oikawa jumping a little in surprise. "Nice toss. And you can call me that if you want." he added as he turned away. "I don't mind."

Oikawa's uncertain expression split into a broad grin. "Okie dokies."

Iwaizumi and Hanamaki stood watching them from the sidelines, and as Oikawa bounced cheerily back to his position on the court and Matsukawa turned away to hide a smile from him that they could see plainly from where they were standing, the two heaved relieved sighs in unison.

"I'm a little surprised."

They both started. "About what, Coach?" Iwaizumi asked, peering around Hanamaki.

"That those two are playing together so well." Irihata glanced at them from his spot a few feet away. "I heard they had quite the spat over lunch today."

Hanamaki blanched. "Oh, that…"

Iwaizumi shrugged dismissively. "It was just a little misunderstanding. We worked it out." His expression turned contemplative as he watched Matsukawa and Oikawa jump a double block against another first year spiker. The ball was soundly rejected and the two whooped and high fived again. "We're not so fragile that one little fight is going to break us."

Irihata smiled.

"Good."

Practice finished up without incident, and the four left as soon as the gym was cleaned up with plans to stop downtown for something to eat before going their separate ways. As they left the school grounds Matsukawa's phone buzzed with a text notification and he dropped back a step behind the others to check it.

_Hey so I called Sakiko-san and she can fit you in tomorrow after school if you still wanted to get your hair cut._

_\- Mom_

The conversation from that morning had completely fled his mind in the wake of how well practice had gone, but he was touched that she not only remembered but had gone to the trouble to set an appointment for him just to make him feel better.

_Nah that's okay. I changed my mind._

_\- Issei_

_Also sorry I got weird this morning. Thanks for setting it up anyways._

He hesitated, finger hovering over the send button.

_Also sorry I got weird this morning. Thanks for setting it up anyways. Love you._

_\- Issei_

It was mere seconds before his phone pinged again.

_I'm so glad you're feeling better, baby_

_\- Mom_

_See you soon I love you_

_\- Mom_

He smiled fondly at the message before closing out of it. Loud laughter attracted his attention and he turned the expression on the three boys ahead of him. Hanamaki and Iwaizumi were in the middle of an impromptu wrestling match that, from the looks of it, Hanamaki was losing. He snorted. Some things never changed.

"Well, that settles it. Makki's paying for snacks." Oikawa said cheerily. Hanamaki rubbed his shoulder and scowled at Iwaizumi.

"Next time you're going down."

Iwaizumi slowly flexed both arms and Hanamaki rolled his eyes.

"Ready whenever you are, nerd."

"Did that seriously just come out of your mouth? You have the second-best grades of the four of us so if anyone here is a nerd it's you."

Matsukawa grinned. "Oikawa's grades are the first best, though, so he's the biggest nerd of us all."

Oikawa gave an exaggerated gasp and put a hand to his heart. "Mattsun! You wound me. I thought we were friends." A few hours ago his high-pitched whine and fake pout would've made Matsukawa twitch in aggravation; now he just smiled amusedly.

"We are."

There was a slight pause as Oikawa gawked at him, mouth moving wordlessly while Iwaizumi and Hanamaki snickered at him. "Mattsuun…!" Oikawa finally wailed, smacking him ineffectually on the arm. "You can't just say that kind of thing point-blank, I don't know how to respond to that!"

"Why not? I thought we agreed we were going to be honest with each other from now on."

Oikawa pressed his reddening face against Matsukawa's shoulder as Iwaizumi said, "How about this, then? You two are _honestly_ nauseating."

Matsukawa traded a grin with Oikawa before putting an arm around the setter's shoulders and saying, "Yeah, but you love us anyways."

Iwaizumi frowned, but his cheeks were turning the faintest shade of pink. "Unfortunately." he grumbled.

They all stared at him, and then Hanamaki let out a hoot of laughter and threw his arms around Iwaizumi's neck, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Ha, he actually admitted it!"

"Shut up or I'm gonna put you in a headlock again."

Any further bickering was interrupted by a weird gurgling sound. Oikawa put a hand to his stomach, looking embarrassed. "Food first. Then you can put him in as many headlocks as you want, Iwa-chan."

"Fine."

"Good. Now let's gooo, I'm starving."

Matsukawa smiled. "Before that, aren't you forgetting something?"

They all looked askance at him. He darted forward, pulling Oikawa with him, and threw an arm around Hanamaki's shoulders, awkwardly holding his phone up so he could catch all four of them. In the background, he could see Iwaizumi make the rock-on gesture and stick his tongue out and he grinned, squeezing Oikawa and Hanamaki a little closer.

"Say cheese!"

**Author's Note:**

> Had an attack of the Seijoh third years feels a while ago and also lately I've grown quite fond of Matsukawa for some reason, so I decided to write a little something based on one of the headcanons from this Tumblr post: post/158767951669/aoba-johsai-insecurities
> 
> Oikawa is both fun and hard to write so I hope I did okay with him. Also I love Iwaizumi. The end.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
